The appointment of Dalit leader Rajendra Pal Gautam as All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh is not just a routine organisational change but reflects the Congress’s aggressive pivot toward Dalit and marginalized communities amid changing political equations in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 state assembly polls, which are just months away.
The former AAP minister who joined the Congress in 2022 replaced Avinash Pandey, a Brahmin.
Dalits were among the Congress’s core voters until the late 1980s when the Bahujan Samaj Party gradually took over Dalit politics in the state.
The party’s top leadership believes that with the BJP wooing upper-caste voters, the Congress still has the potential to win over voter segments, including Dalits, especially since the BSP has not been a serious contender for power in the past 7-10 years.
The base statistics for social outreach come from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where the party won more seats as compared to 2019. In 2024, Congress secured six out of 17 contested seats with a 9.46% vote share while in 2019 the Congress won only Rae Bareli with a 6.36% vote share.
The SP-Congress alliance relegated the BJP to the number two position in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP’s tally of seats was reduced from 62 out of 80 in 2019 to 33 in 2024. The SP won 37 seats and the Congress bagged six out of the 17 seats it contested.
Under the seat-sharing arrangement, the Congress was given 105 of 403 UP assembly seats in 2017 and 17 of 80 UP Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress won seven of the 105 seats it contested in 2017 in alliance with the SP. The Congress’s tally dropped to an all-time low of two seats in 2022, when it won only the Rampur Khas and Pharenda seats in UP as it contested 399 seats on its own. Elated with the 2024 Lok Sabha results, the Congress hopes for better results in 2027.
“Since we performed better on the ground in 2024, and given the unclear picture of an alliance with the SP, an attempt to enhance the organisational structure will strengthen our position during alliance discussions. We have five months to work on the ground,” said a senior Congress leader.
After taking charge, Rajendra Pal Gautam said, “I will come to Uttar Pradesh within a week and discuss the strategy for the party.”
The change also reflects Rahul Gandhi’s stand on social justice and a strong inclination towards ‘rights in proportion to population’.
From joining the Congress in September 2022, to becoming the AICC SC wing chairman in June 2025 and in charge of politically sensitive Uttar Pradesh in June 2026, Gautam’s remarkably fast rise within the party, has raised many eyebrows.
“This signals that further change in state organisation may happen in a few weeks,” said another office bearer in the party.
“The leadership believes there is an opportunity to expand its footprint as the BSP, once the dominant political force among Dalits, has witnessed a decline in electoral influence in recent years,” a senior Congress leader said.
Gautam’s own political journey, from association with the BSP to the AAP and now the Congress, gives him familiarity with Dalit politics and grassroots mobilisation.
Despite the strategic significance of the appointment, Gautam faces formidable challenges.
The BJP continues to enjoy a strong organisational network and has invested heavily in outreach to non-Jatav Dalits and non-Yadav OBCs.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party remains the principal opposition force in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress will therefore need to translate symbolic appointments into sustained grassroots work, booth-level organisation and credible local leadership. Additionally, Gautam’s success will depend on his ability to unite the state leadership, energise workers and convert the Congress’s social justice narrative into electoral gains.
